A letter from Kailasa!
Kailasa
Kali Yuga
Dear child,
I keep forgetting the standards of time you have. Different “Calendars”, “Time Zones”, I just don’t get it. I can’t keep track of all these different variants of time. To me, time is endless & universal. The Devas get grumpy about how mankind has constricted & therefore disrespected the concept of Time to “days”, “weeks” & “years” conveniently. But I find it amusing, me and my dearest friend, Narayana even had a long conversation about how simple things up here would be if we had employed this idea of yours.
That’s the reason I couldn’t mention your standard time. Simply because it’s too complex for me to comprehend. I’m sorry if my explanation cost you a few minutes of your valuable time. What kind of a Father would want to cause his child any inconvenience intentionally? I know that your day is a busy one, hustling for your dreams & keeping on with the world. As a father it fills my heart with joy & pride to watch you prosper in your interests. But it also deepens the endless well of sadness, when I realize that in midst of this hunger for success, you have completely forgotten me & the Dharma I taught you to uphold.
I feel as though you have defenestrated me. Why? Which child rejects his own father? I thought this happened only in what you call “Old Age homes”. Are you afraid because of how they describe me? That I sit on corpses to meditate & smear myself in ashes at cremation grounds? Or is it that I’m called Kapaldhari, the bearer of skulls? Or that I’m Ardhnarishwara, the blend of Shiva & Shakti?
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| Ardhnarishwra |
If so, then why won’t you accept me as me, when I accept all of you as one & equal without differences of culture, distinction of gender & divergent beliefs? Let alone me, why wouldn’t you accept all of you as brothers & sisters? You come to visit only when you want something, like a child who cares about his parents only when they are bedridden just to be inherited in their will. Is our relationship that hollow? My beloved Parvati, told me that the daily soaps have corrupted your mind, I didn’t believe her words to be true for a moment. And here I am, standing corrected. They even depict my stories & battles in your shows on the “TV” as legends in my praise, but they fail to convey the lessons I sought to teach you, they fail to express the emptiness within my heart. You act as if I don’t exist at all. Some even believe it to be true, yet I accept them with the pain of a father.
If there was a Wi-Fi connection up here, I would’ve been the first to DM you on Insta, since that is where most of you spend the majority of your time. I would’ve used every media platform to try and commune with you. Tell me how your day was. Tell me what did you have for dinner last night. Tell me about your crush. Tell me why your cheerful, young & pure soul is anxious, empty & scared, what is it that troubles you my sunshine? Tell me about your dream that keeps you up at night.
Kartikeya says you're stressed by the lifestyle of "influencers", I don't even know what that means, but what I do know, is that you matter to me. That's the reason why Ganesha is finding it difficult to aid you. According to him, the obstacles in your way are the products of your mind, manifested by you thinking yourself as inferior to them, by your fear of society's judgement & verdict for you. Why would you let these wasteful thoughts consume yourself? Why would you bother yourself by the opinions of those to whom Devi Lakshmi came through inheritance, by those who don't possess integrity & by those to whom Devi Saraswati rejects to visit? Narada suggests that you should consume ideas & thoughts that invoke your productivity. He opines that you should channel your feelings & like Arjuna, focus on your goal. A goal so vivid, that you could watch it even when blindfolded. And of course, talk about it with your friends, talk to me. Like a drain, when clogged overflows, similarly, vent out your emotions before they consume you. Heed the advice of your father, unlike others, I won’t judge. I’ll listen to you patiently.
To the world, I am Mahadeva, the Lord of the Gods. The Bold, the unshakable, the one to whom the Three Lokas bow, the one whose wrath makes the sky fall down. But inside, I am a father, a sad, lonely & helpless man, hoping that one day you would knock at my door. That you’ll sit close to me, hold my hand and ask me “Hello father, how are you holding up?”. That’ll both watch Surya Dev go to bed in the distant horizon, while drinking tea made from the leaves of Tulsi Devi & sharing our stories. What must I do so that you could visit me, a video call at least? Do you want me to accept the trends of society? Do you want me to be “cool” & “dank”? You ask and I shall act upon it, for there is no limit to what a parent could do in order to be loved by their child.
Why don’t you understand my pain, the pain of a parent, whose son doesn’t even want to look to him? To all sons & daughters, what would it take to commune with your parents? Is it because you know their noble intentions but choose to blind yourself? And to all mothers & fathers, what would it take for you to understand your children? Why would you build the walls yourself by not letting your prince/princess to venture on his/her own conquest? And to those who leave their newborn sons & daughters, their parents while twilight is upon them, to live off on their own, to just not bother about the responsibility, you disgust me. And I shall burn you down to ashes with the ever-raging fire of my anger.
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| If I smoke pot, it doesn’t mean that you should as well |
You even misrepresent me. Nandi tell me of you having cannabis in my name. If I smoke pot, it doesn’t mean that you should as well. I detest this, for I & my true devotees smoke to access the deeper, inner & spiritual consciousness. Not for fun, to act out of stature, to abuse my mind & body or of others. I took cannabis during Sagar Manthan, in order to soothe the pain of Halahala, the poison that emerged from beneath the sea of milk. Why don’t you try having Botulinum, Dioxin, Pesticides first? Pick your poison, literally.
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| Shiva destroying Kama Dev |
I destroyed Kama, the God of Lust. Lust, not only of sexual desire, but of any & every material. While you on the other hand, can’t even overcome the former, thank your corrupted mind that objectifies a gender. You have lost the ability to perceive the other as a human with flaws, but only as a means of satisfaction. I am Nataraja, the king of dance, for when I perform Lasya, it leads to creation & when I perform Tandava, the Three Lokas tremble. What dance form do you excel in, let alone the purposes of mine? I don’t have the hunger for validation. Do you? I am Adiyogi, for I master 84 lakh yogic asanas. How many do you? I told Shakti “नास्ति सत्यात् परो नानृतात् पातकं परम्।“ That dishonesty & deception is the biggest sin. How many of you have followed this as your principle of life? I trapped Ganga with her mighty and ferocious force in my locks of hair so that she could wash away your sins and bring you Moksha. You on the other hand, polluted her, the same Ganga, the holiest of the holy, who purified you, now seeks help for herself.
I’m disappointed that you choose to idolize us only when it suits you. And that too for material pleasure? This arbitrary & choosy selection of our principles based on a conjecture sticks to my craw. Therefore, calling yourself my “devotee” when you smoke pot, is a self-styled misnomer. A true devotee follows Dharma, the path of righteousness. A devotee aids the weak, knows how to control his urges, is ready to sacrifice his needs for others’, respects Bhu Devi & every creature, & he accepts others as who they are. Like one doesn’t have to follow a faith in order to be spiritualistic, similarly you need not to be a devotee to follow Dharma. Atheists can also walk on this path of Dharma. Atheism is a school of thought that goes way back in your time standards, in your terms 600 BCE, Samakhya & Mimamsa are two examples. Remember, Dharma is different from Pantha, or a school of faith & I love you for what you are, short-tall, skinny-chubby, fair-dark, Believer-Atheist.
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| Virabhadra |
But for those with misconduct & violation of Dharma. Those who incite hate & resentment in our names, those who exploit the indigence & the weak, those who don’t respect the Durga at & of their home, those who misuse their power, those who defame & talk behind others’ back, those who employ lies & deceit & those who do harm to mankind in any other way, heed this as a warning. I shall behead you as I beheaded the arrogant Daksha & I shall thrust my Trishul deep in your chest as I thrusted it in Jalandhara’s. For if I am Bhola Bhandari, the one who is pleased easily, I am also Mahakaal, the lord of death & time. For if I am Anugrahmurthy, the showerer of boons, I am also Virbhadra, the wrathful & fearsome.
I’m sorry if I got carried away. Look, I don’t seek to punish you purposely. But as a father, like any, it’s my responsibility to reward you when you uphold Dharma & set you straight if you walk on the path of malevolence & corruption. Now of course, I can’t force you to talk with me & I don’t even expect to hear from you to be honest. The least I expect from you is to follow Dharma, follow righteousness, do not let ideologies & affiliations misguide you, for they are temporary. It doesn’t need a code of conduct to do what’s right.
I know that you won’t be able to have a chat with me. And it’s alright, I understand that your work is too important for you. But always remember, that I am your father, and as a father, my love for you has no bounds. I may be distant, but I’m always watching over you. And whether you embrace me or reject me, I’ll still love you unconditionally for who you are. And if something goes wrong, let me know, I’ll be there to listen to you. Whenever you feel alone in the world, remember that you have a family up here, in the snowy mountains of Himalayas as well. Hope to hear from you.
Ganesha, Kartikeya, Parvati & Nandi send their regards.
Your Father,
Shankara
-Bhavesh Arora
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